L’Absinthe – fine wine without tears
Number 40 Chalcot Road is an address with “history” - at least so far as the restaurant business is concerned. It’s a corner site in agreeably affluent Primrose Hill and has been home to various endeavours from the “Pukka Bar” (accessible, modernist curry) to “Black Truffle” (one of a colour coded chain of neighbourhood restaurants). So far no one has been able to make it fly. The latest incumbent is Jean-Christophe Slowik who used to work in Marco’s Empire as front of house and he has called his restaurant L’Absinthe. As far as the décor goes he has made only one major change – filling in the large “hole” on the ground floor to make room for some more tables. The food is very sound – French bistro cooking. Think French onion soup; salad Lyonnaise; Bayonne ham with celeriac remoulade leading on to mains like duck confit with Savoy cabbage; steak frites; sea bream en papillotte; pork chop charcutiere. Good potato gratin. (Starters £4.25-£6.95, mains £8.95-£14.50, puds £4.15).
But pleasant though it is, the menu is not the reason that L’Absinthe is so busy. Jean-Christophe is a wine lover and he has chanced his arm and done away with the usual restaurant wine pricing model. Rather than just trebling the price of everything and hoping for the best, he has divided his wine list into four categories and added a variable corkage charge to the “shop” price of each wine. You add £6 to the retail price of cheapies; £8 to middle-weights; £10 to smart wines; and there’s no corkage on anything grand cru – a reward for your good taste. In practice this means you can sit down to Bayonne ham followed by steak frites and drink a bottle of Vosne Romanee, domaine Daniel Rion & Fils 2001 that costs just £38.10. This makes for a very good dinner. We all know that we should drink less and drink better, the trouble is finding a way to finance such a strategy. Here are some of the bargains to be had at L’Absinthe:
Saint Veran, domaine Guegnon-Remond, 2006 £18.45
Puilly-Fuisse “vielles vignes”, domaine Jeandeau 2005 £27.70
Meursault “les Vereuils” domain Dupont-Fahn 2005 £35.45
Puligny-Montrachet Noyers Brets domaine Jean-Marc Pillot 2005 £38.35
Pena Roble, Bodegas Resalte, Ribera del Duero, 2005 £18.25
Chateau Bornac, cru Bourgeois Medoc 2001 £23.50
Chateau Cantenac-Brown, Margaux 1996 £55.00
Chateau Pichon-Baron, Pauillac 1996 £85.00
At last a real incentive to drink good wine. Fortunately the good folk of Primrose Hill seem knowlegeable and appreciative so when they see Margaux at £55 a bottle they pounce on the bargain rather than merely thinking “£55 is rather expensive for six glass of wine”. They also respond to Jean-Christophe’s obvious passion. We could do with more restaurants like this.
Charles Campion
L'Absinthe, 40 Chalcot Road, NW1 (020 7483 4848)
One thing about L'Absinthe. The restaurant does not serve absinthe or stock it. I telephoned and was told by the usual highly-informed - and not afraid to show it - French waiter/maitre'd that they have Pernod which used to be absinthe (but has not been since 1915 when absinthe was banned in France).
Perhaps they should change the name...? Bit misleading?
Posted by: simon duval smith | 02/04/2008 at 11:57 AM
How I wish that restaurants here in the U.S. would adopt this practice. Regardless, our current and worsening economic recession might force some of them into it. It not only keeps the cost of wine reasonable, it eliminates awkwardness about the tip (an issue here, at least) - aside from decanting fine old stuff, the effort involved in properly serving wine varies almost not at all among bottles.
Three cheers for L'Absinthe and thanks to Mr. Campion for making this information available to those of us far outside the London area.
Posted by: Richard Metzger | 03/04/2008 at 03:17 AM
I have been going to a restaurant in Amsterdam with a similar concept for the last 5 years - Great food complimented by an excellent wine list where the only charge is corkage on top of the 'shop' price. This certainly makes for a great combination as you get to enjoy good wine and food at realistic prices. The restaurant is called: Puyck - in the Pijp, worth a visit if you are in Amsterdam and want to see another part of the city
Posted by: Julian | 08/04/2008 at 01:17 PM